Psalm 86:5 Asking A God Who is Eager to Forgive

Mom sent me this reflection on Psalm 86:5. It goes so well with the Beth Moore Bible study on James that my sister-in-law and I (and many other women across the country) are doing at church. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” When I read my Bible this morning, I was overwhelmed, then very teary. Psalm 86:5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in... Read More

Puppy vs. Kitten

Meet Casper – as in, Casper, the Friendly Ghost. This is Casper, the Friendly Puppy. Casper is staying with us for a couple months for training. We think he (Click here to read more or leave a comment on Puppy vs. Kitten)  Read More

Veggie Smoothies + Puppy Training = One Crazy Family

Wow, it’s been days since I posted. So much for posting every day in January! In my defense, we are training a puppy for a couple months for someone. The yelpyelpyelpyelpyelpyelpyelping has made it harder than normal to string two thoughts together. I’ll be back soon. Cheers!  Read More

LFTL on FB

A really quick post today, just to say that Letters From the Loft has a Facebook page. Click here to go there. After you go to the page, if you click “like,” some of the recent posts will start showing up on your Facebook newsfeed. I’m not adding every post to the Facebook page, just some of the more substantial ones. You do not need to do this if the email or RSS feed is working fine for you! (Tip: Near the top right of the Facebook page, click “Everyone:... Read More

Green Juice Fast

My husband is on a 15-day juice fast. Last week we watched the first half of “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.” It’s a documentary about a man who juice-fasted his way across the U.S.A. to save his own life, interviewing people about their diets as he went. It affected my husband so much that he is feeding green juice to our kids (who are very excited about this) and to me (not so excited). I am trying to do the juice fast with him. So far, this is not fun. I am as... Read More

When Problems Seem Big…

Check out this picture. It’s a famous composite photograph, titled “The Pale Blue Dot,” taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft. The speck of dust in the beam of light is the Earth. We are tinier than specks of dust. (Click here to read more or leave a comment on When Problems Seem Big…)  Read More

Learning to Receive

I introduced one of my husband’s younger sisters a week or so ago. We don’t know how long she’ll stay with us, but we’re glad for whatever time we have. One time, shortly after she came, she said, “Debbie, I don’t know how you handle all these little kids without help.” I don’t know, either. She’s really good with our kids, fixing them sandwiches, motivating them to pick up toys, and tolerating their constant requests. She’s... Read More

Old Scrapbook Layouts

I’ve been clearing space on my computer, which means I’ve run across a lot of old scrapbook layouts. “Old” is a relative term. These were from two or three years ago, when I was getting into digital scrapbooking, experimenting with free trial downloads of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. This was the first layout I put on the blog: (Click here to read more or leave a comment on Old Scrapbook Layouts)  Read More

Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

The smell of whole wheat bread, just out of the oven, is one of my favorite childhood memories. Our family never bought bread from the store. Mom always baked it. I was embarrassed to take the odd, thick slices to school as a sack lunch sandwich, but I was plenty happy to eat it straight out of the oven at home! Warm and smothered with butter and honey, it is a glorious piece of heaven. Mom baked it recently and was happy to share her recipe here. This makes 4 large loaves. ... Read More

The Planning Habit

Yesterday was a busy day. My resolve to post every day in January took a back seat to other things. They were good things, but I’ve discovered that, while it’s easy enough to write a post a day, it’s hard to write something worthwhile every day. Shouldn’t my entire life be about something worthwhile, every day? Since we moved last summer, I’ve felt like I’m often just responding to the next thing, (Click here to read more or leave a comment... Read More